Minnesota to Go Subzero for First Time This Winter

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After tonight, all will be right again in the Twin Cities.
Minnesota is forecast to have its first subzero temperature of
this winter around midnight.

As of today (Jan. 18), this
winter has been wimpy in the Twin Cities, as it has in much
of the rest of the United States. Temperatures below 0 degrees
Fahrenheit (minus 17.7 degrees Celsius) across southern Minnesota
and west central Wisconsin during winter are usually a fact of
life for people there. But with this year's weird winter, folks
are wondering where
is the cold and snow ? There has never been a winter where
temperatures at reporting locations across the Twin Cities
forecast area failed to drop below zero, according to the
National Weather Service (NWS). But that should change tonight,
according to the latest forecast.

"In Minneapolis ... subzero #cold for the 1st time this season
tonight," tweeted the Weather Channel's Eric Fisher.

In the Twin Cities, the fewest number of below-0-degree F days
was two, which happened in the winter of 2001-2002. Jan. 18 was
the latest winter season date for the Twin Cities to experience
their first below-zero temperature, which happened in 1889. If
the mercury fails to drop below zero before midnight tonight,
that record will be broken.

Like much of the country, the Twin Cities region is at the mercy
of the Arctic Oscillation, a climate pattern of opposing
atmospheric pressures in the middle and high latitudes of the
Northern Hemisphere. This year, the Arctic Oscillation has been
in a positive phase, which brings warmer-than-average
temperatures to the northern United States. The warm weather and
a lack of snow cover this year have kept many cities
unusually warm.

The Pacific Northwest is also getting a heavy dose of winter
today, with a snowstorm that is bringing
several inches of snow to Seattle and other parts of the
region, which normally don't see such major snowfalls.

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